The objective is to generate a nonfouling surface that is patterned with defined patches of cell surface receptor ligands. A cell culture system will then be used to identify the ligands that are capable of keeping vascular smooth muscles cells in a quiescent, non-proliferative phenotype. The geometry of the patches can influence the shape and the size of the cells, which is hypothesized to be another important factor influencing the physiological state of the cells. The ligands are bound to the surface by means of a fluorocarbon surfactant molecule; the hydrophobic tail strongly adsorbs to a fluorinated surface and functions as an anchoring molecule for the ligand.